Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

MIGHTY SQUIRREL BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

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WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

Magnanimously cavernous mall-bound 30-barrel brewhouse, MIGHTY SQUIRREL BREWING CO. opened for biz on December 7th, 2018. A pristine 24,000 square-foot corner space including a 40-draught main bar taproom, 20-draught club-styled stage room and tea-lit and lawn-chaired side deck (with food truck), the glass-windowed, epoxy-floored social drinking establishment may be sizable, but never ostentatiously so.

The massive left side L-shaped main bar (with cornered couch lounge) sidles the glass-encased silver brew tanks and canning line while the ample right side seating towards the stage showcases a glass-enclosed rock climbing wall. At the far left back, bottles-to-go are available beneath the illuminated orange squirrel insignia.

A fine soulful band plays Mighty Squirrel this cold Friday evening, December ’19, on the outskirts of Boston.

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I tried six of the twelve tapped offerings while perusing the commodious digs.

Dry grain-husked musk and dark floral Noble-hopped herbage front crisply clean Helles Lager, Munick, leaving lemon licks upon its astringent back end.

Candi-sugared dried fruiting consumed Monk’s Choir Belgian Quad, leaving sweet fig, raisin and date illusions to further sweeten its toffee-spiced caramel malting and subtle rum, bourbon and brandy snips.

‘Vibrant’ Milkshake IPA, Peach Smoovy, brought lactic milk sugaring to abrupt peach juicing and light vanilla bean creaming while contrasting vodka-nipped piney hops and orange-peeled grapefruit bittering over delicate oats-flaked malting.

Pumpkin pie-spiced Gourdgeous Pumpkin, benefited from yam-candied nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom seasoning speckling dry pale malts in fine fashion.

Creamy cocoa nibs and milk-sugared cold brew coffee regale rich mocha stout, Velvet Moon, a soothing full body with wood-seared hop char contrasting tertiary maple oats, vanilla bourbon, anise and tar illusions.

For dessert, splendid Imperial Stout, Mississippi Mud Pie, melded sweet brown chocolate malting to milk-sugared coffee, bourbon vanilla and anise illusions above maple molasses oats to counter wood-burnt hop char at charming mocha finish.

BACKLASH BEER COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Inside a red brick Industrial warehouse and up a few stairs to its rustic railroad-tied wood bar, BACKLASH BEER CO. opened for biz in 2018. After contract brewing for a few years at Holyoke’s Paper City Brewery and canning at Foolproof, Backlash settled into the historic Roxbury neighborhood at a former piano factory where they stand proud crafting high quality brews in a no-frills atmosphere on the outskirts of Boston.

Reminiscent of a large loft apartment with its double-hung windows, olden columns, exposed pipes and Edison-bulbed free form bar shades, Backlash features a 12-seat, L-shaped, slate top bar with a blackboard beer list and ten white-tiled draught lines guarded by a toy bulldog.

Several community tables fill out the open space across the bar.

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My wife and I consumed five fine elixirs during our early December ’19 sojourn.

Rounded Belgian blonde, Groundswell, delivered candi-sugared pilsner malting to sharp orange-peeled coriander spicing, candied banana-clove sweetness and lemony white grape tartness over musty white-peppered herbal hop grassiness.

Rustic basil-minted saison, Basilisk, retained peppery basil-leafed herbage for floral-daubed lemon zest, perfumed coriander spicing and shaving-cologned chamomile restraint.

Succulent India Pale Ale, Bad Decision Juice, brought juicy grapefruit, orange, peach, pineapple and mango tanginess to pale malt sugaring contrasting mild wood tones at the dry citric-induced finish.

Mildly amber-hazed NEIPA, Ricochet, coalesced orange-spiced sweetness with lemony grapefruit tanginess, dry plantain tartness and peppery hop herbage over bready pale malting.

Mocha-spirited Imperial Stout, 10 Hour Nightmare, draped cocoa-sugared brown chocolate syrup over milked coffee bittering, dry cocoa powdering and maple molasses oats as well as tertiary vanilla, toffee and burnt caramel sentiments.

LAMPLIGHTER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

Quaint red-bricked neighborhood bistro in downtown Cambridge maintains cozy corner café appeal with freshly brewed coffee as well as beer. Inside a former auto repair shop, LAMPLIGHTER BREWING COMPANY came to fruition in 2016. Its back kitchen serves locally sourced breakfast items to folks at the 12 white-tiled parlor seats, main community table, right side area and front cove lounge on my early December ’19 trip.

Glass encased silver tanks to the left service the twelve-plus draught taps of the rustically furnished white-walled, cement-floored, pipe-exposed coffeeshop/ microbrewery.

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My wife and I try seven lovely suds late Saturday morning prior to the college football conference playoffs.

Musky dry-hopped pale lager, Stupid Seagulls, gained a lemony white grape souring above hay-like grain malts.

Tangy grapefruit-peeled blood orange juicing blitzed Cloud City, a fruitful NEIPA with dry floral herbage, grassy hop astringency and distant guava-mango-melon tropicalia.

Tart NEIPA, Birds Of Paradise, relinquished lemony pineapple, passionfruit and papaya tropicalia for lactic yogurt souring.

A more adventurous NEIPA, Sneaker Wave let arctic thyme salting influence its citric-juiced guava, papaya and pineapple souring and sweet elderflower sideswipe.

Possibly bettering all these NEIPA’s, Tropical Tom retained a cotton-candied toasted coconut sweetness fortified by vanilla-creamed orange, pineapple, mango and peach tones just barely embittered by piney hop resin.

Delightfully candi-spiced Belgian-styled holiday ale, Blitzen, brought cinnamon-toasted Graham Cracker sugaring to caramelized fig, chocolate-covered cherry and nutmeg illusions as well as pumpkin pie, allspice, clove, plum and toffee snips. Luscious dessert fodder.

On the dark side, bittersweet cacao nibs flourished alongside tarry dark chocolate and Turkish coffee sugaring for London Calling, a bold, heady porter.

CROOKED EYE BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

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HATBORO, PENNSYLVANIA

A hidden gem in the heart of Hatboro 25 miles north of Philly, CROOKED EYE BREWERY came into existence when homebrewer Jeff Mulherin began experimenting in 2014. Growing into a seven-barrel microbrewery over a few years, Crooked Eye’s sturdy stainless-steeled suds certainly deserve attention.

Set inside a garage-doored makeshift pub, its modern Industrial rusticity and Edison light-strewn canopy give the small space a welcoming neighborhood bar feel. And the stylistically straightforward brews will please any palate.

The corrugated-bottomed, wood-topped, 8-seat bar serviced three stainless steel industrial cart tables and a few wood-metal tables. A blackboard beer list and one large-screen TV fill out the room. Behind the black brick wall lies the silver brew tanks.

My wife and I stopped by during early November ’19 for an enjoyable afternoon wakeup call.

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The lightest offering, Boro Blond Ale, brought light orange-oiled hop bittering to dewy mineral grained French breading and delicate sugared spiciness.

Blending mellow orange-peeled coriander spicing with lemon-soured ginger herbage and fried plantain sweetness, White Tail Wit was a fine opener.

Smoothly mineral-grained Regimental 80 Scottish Ale gave its dewy tobacco sweetness a resinous brown tea musk, mildly spiced caramel malting and pastry-like flouring.

Earthen brown tea consumed dewy The Brit ESB, an easygoing moderation with subtle leafy foliage.

Designed close to an India Pale Ale due to its piney dry-hopped citrus bittering, Accidental Pail Ale retained a sweet pale malt sugaring to amplify its lemony orange-peeled tang and relegate the spicily floral herbage.  

Creamily white-headed Hazy Eye Double IPA soothingly plied sunny orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess to mineral-grained wood lacquer and mild alcohol astringency, picking up juicy floral-daubed peach, mango and honeydew illusions for further roundedness.

Black chocolate malt bittering inundated dry-roasted pumpkin rusticity of Austin’s Pumpkin Porter, a fine autumnal dark ale with cayenne-peppered cinnamon bark swipes and latent anise-nutmeg seasoning.

Sweet grain-roasted caramel malts received glazed pecan-hazelnut sugaring to combat dried cocoa powdering for Gangster Of Lover Imperial Brown Ale.

Dark-roast black chocolate malts rampaged forth for nitrogenated One Eye Dog Coffee Porter, leaving black peppered coffee remnants on the back end.

Creamily sweet brown chocolate gave nitrogenated Black Eye Oatmeal Stout its opening salvo as roasted coffee, molasses, charred cedar and hazelnut illusions play backup.

crookedeyebrewery.com

TRACK 3 MICROBREWERY COFFEE HOUSE

United States Brewpubs,

DRESHER, PENNSYLVANIA

A unique experience blending the art of brewing, TRACK 3 MICROBREWERY & COFFEE HOUSE opened in springtime 2019 at a cozy mall-bound shop in the small northern Philly suburb of Drescher (and closed 2020).

Inspired by great music and the love of fresh coffee and hand-crafted beer, TRACK 3 features framed wall photos of famed rockers such as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. The sterling grey epoxy-floored interior consists of sturdy metal-wood chairs and tables, rows of Edison lights (attached to the black pipe-exposed ceiling) and a small centralized serving station.

A colorful blackboard provides beer, coffee, cider and tea choices and the brew tanks are hidden ’round back.

A fine barista-styled nanobrewery with an expansive selection of quaffable elixirs, Track 3 has gained the attention of local minions in a short period of time.

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My wife and I consume seven beers on our happy one-hour November ’19 stopover.

Mildly lime-embittered cherry rhubarb tartness regaled lightly sour Tart Cherry Upper Duberliner Weisse, a dry salted coriander-licked moderation with only minor acidity.

Piquant lemon-candied orange tartness and white-peppered herbal notions contrasted soapy banana-bubblegum-clove respite above honeyed Graham Cracker wheat malting for Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It, a soft-toned witbier lacking chutzpah.

Toasted amber grains and subtle rye spicing welcomed 88 Special Red Rye Ale, retaining orange-spiced tartness and leafy hop foliage in the dewy back end.

Creamy vanilla-sugared sweetness glazed Shake Your Rump Blood Orange Creamsickle Milkshake IPA, a resilient medium body with snappy yogurt-soured lemony grapefruit tanginess providing sharp bite.

Tropical Mosaic-Moteuka hops provided passionfruit, guava, mango and kiwi tartness for I’m Easy Hazy IPA, picking up sneaky lemon souring and grassy astringency by the dry finish.

Milk-sugared brown chocolate sweetened Night Train Porter, a resilient dessert treat with creamy vanilla and light roast coffee tones rising above sedate charred hop bittering.

Dark roast coffee dominated chocolate, vanilla and hazelnut sweetness for Baby Bottle Coffee Vanilla Stout, a lusty mocha nightcap.

 

ARTIFACT BREWING – HATBORO

United States Brewpubs,

HATBORO, PENNSYLVANIA

Located inside a former auto body shop (attached to a Goodyear repair center) and utilizing rock-related beer names, ARTIFACT BREWING opened its doors October 18, 2019. Just up the road from the center of town in the bucolic north Philly suburb of Hatboro (established in Colonial times by an English hatter), this rustic cement-floored pub features the works of local craft beer artisans Brian Mc Kinney and Matt Brzowski. Set up as a three-barrel nano brewery with four serving tanks and twelve-plus tap handles, Artifact became the borough’s second operating brewery (behind Crooked Eye).

A green-walled cement floored space with a 14-seat, plank-sided, maple- topped bar, Artifact’s small interior includes four community tables, three round cocktail tables and a wooden bar-walled American flag.

My wife and I head up to the bar and consume six well-rounded brews on our pre-Halloween ’19 journey.

For their maiden voyage, Artifact created interestingly enigmatic pale ale, Paradigm Shift, a stylistically advanced dry body utilized citric-spiced Norwegian Kviek yeast to temper its beet-sugared maple syruping, complacent orange tartness and mild cherry coughdrop smidge.

Candi-sugared orange peel sweetness rode above spiced banana, vanilla and caramel illusions for delightful As Serious Can Be, a lightly creamed moderate-medium body perfect for Belgian ale lovers.

On the surface, floral-cologned juniper bittering picked up zesty lemon juicing for pleasantly offbeat saison, Forever Sleeping, leaving ginger-herbed rose hips, elderflower and chamomile undertones in its busy turpentine-lacquered kiwi-guava-induced Nelson hop wake.

Combining dankly herbal lemon-dried Golding hops with oats-backed German pilsner malts let hybridized English bitter-styled kolsch, Everyman, remain smoothly dry and crisply clean.

Dewy tobacco-sweet mossing inundated grapefruit, pineapple and orange rind dryness for subtly designed English bitter, Walk Like A Smile.

Before heading out on this sunny Saturday in October, quaffed today’s only IPA (also note, there were no dark beers available).

Tropical fruit-spiced Galaxy and Vic Secret hops sharpened herbal-perfumed medium body, Contagious Smile IPA, a cucumber-watered refresher with tangy grapefruit, pineapple and orange piquancy gaining blissful lemon zesting.

www.artifactales.com/

TANNERY RUN BREWWORKS

United States Brewpubs,

AMBLER, PENNSYLVANIA

Right in the heart of diminutive village, Ambler, 16 miles North of Philly, TANNERY RUN BREWWORKS opened its doors March ’19. Re-creating Ambler’s rural past with modern Industrial decor, the 16-tap brewpub features a nifty wood lacquer-etched bar top inlaid by pyrographic tree designs and an overhead fern-vined trellis plus a separate corrugated sheet-glassed right side dining area and a sofa-laden backroom lounge with a large mural celebrating the Pink Boot Society. Rear tanks serve fluctuating flagship brews and snazzy one-offs.

One mile from warehouse-bound Ambler Beer Co,. this 9,500 square-foot centrally located seven barrel pub-eatery (with downstairs private event space) specializes in Splatch Brewing, an innovative mash-kettled yeast and hop system splitting batches into different varieties.

My wife and I grab mushroom leek flatbread from the soup-salad-sandwich menu while consuming eight rangy brews on our enjoyable premier visit.

Amiable copper-toned autumnal lager, Sozin’s Comet, contrasted its toasted Graham Cracker sweetness with dewy herbal restraint and earthy fungi must.

An orange-candied lemon spritz and dewy earthen foliage emerged from dry English-hopped Ceiling Smasher, a hybridized saison with herbal green tea notions.

Brisk Belgian blonde, Beast Of Burden, let herbal white-peppered lemondrop tartness contrast sweet banana-bubblegum-clove-coriander illusions with genuine aplomb.

Dewy fermented tea-like earthiness grappled dark candi-syruped plum, fig and date sweetness for Sokka’s Master, a delightful Abbey yeast-soaked dubbel.

Dank West Coast-styled IPA flagship, Red Dragon, brought dry lemony orange fruiting to a lightly spiced malt sugaring that contrasted its musky wattle-seeded pine nut, fennel and brown tea illusions.

Belgian ale yeast provided black-peppered fungi must and candi-sugared fig-dried resonance to Blue Dragon IPA, a finely detailed rustic hybrid.

Floral-honeyed peach, orange and grapefruit sweetness countered resinous herbal whims for Elder Dragon IPA, a dryly pale malted aggressor.

Dry-kilned Belgian coffee malts provided the mocha thrust of black-malted Dark Ritual Porter, leaving dark chocolate bittering at the finish.

FIVE CHURCHES BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT

On the second floor of a cavernous wood furnished red brick-walled setting, downtown New Britain’s FIVE CHURCHES BREWING occupies a former clothing factory. Taking its ‘we have faith in our beer’ slogan to the max, the spacious pizzeria-brewpub even dabbles successfully with their soda-fruited gluten-free Weerder alternatives.

While the impressive stainless steel silver brew tanks behind the twelve draught-handled bar serve pristinely crafted liquid fare, the right side wood-fired pizza oven provides terrific variety. Sterling wood-lacquered furnishings adorn the expose-piped open space and several Edison bulbs light the fourteen-stooled bar (with three TV’s) – retaining the original Industrial brick, flooring and windows.

A backspace banquet area and an outside left deck (with five tables under blue umbrellas) offer further seating.

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Head brewer Austin Japs crafts a vast array of one-off ales, but the one constant flagship is sharply orange-spiced, caramel-toasted amber ale,  Amburlance, a brisk moderate-medium body with sweetly dewed autumnal foliage.

Mild wheat ale, #Zessed, brought tingly orange-candied lemondrop tartness to mineral-grained crisping.

Sweet-tart hazy NEIPA, Pew Pew, let Citra-Simcoe hop tropicalia rule the roost as orange-dried grapefruit juicing saddled dainty wood tones.

Another dry-bodied IPA, The Machinist, brought sunshiny grapefruit tang and crystal malt sugaring to lemony orange rind bittering, leaving sticky pine lacquer upon its latent juniper piquancy.

Knocking off a New Zealand-styled Imperial IPA, Street People relies on limey melon, gooseberry, passionfruit and grapefruit desiccation to perk up its pale malt spine.

Briskly winter-spiced porter, Once And For Fall, let minty fern caress its caramelized chocolate sweetness and mild nutmeg-cumin-chicory seasoning.

Delightful Out Of Porter, an Imperial Porter, swished milk chocolate syrup around cocoa, toffee and caramel sugaring.

FAT ORANGE CAT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT

In the rustic backwoods of East Hampton, small homestead nanobrewery, FAT ORANGE CAT, opened for biz August 2016. Along the Salmon River watershed, this agrarian wood-paneled farmhouse (with forest green aluminum top) relies mostly on locally grown ingredients to craft its delightful small-batch brews.

Brewmaster Mike Klucznik received local awards as a home brewer before embarking on his ambitious zymurgistic journey. And the everchanging lineup of homespun beers he serves (approximately 100 one-offs since the outset) gets dominated by pleasant hazy New England-styled India Pale Ales, earthy farmhouse ales and approachable sour ales.

The serenely sylvan environment surrounding Fat Orange Cat includes canvassed hillside furnishings, picnic tables, a goat farm and loose chickens sprawled across the unexcavated backyard countryside.

Fat Orange Cat’s simple raw wood interior includes a central serving station, small black insulated stainless steel brew tanks, Industrial metal-wood table and several walled beer cans.

My wife and I grab a picnic table to begin consuming six fine offerings this warm September ’19 afternoon.

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First up, soft-toned flagship, Jalapeno Cream Ale, brought mild jalapeno heat to maize-dried pale malting and spritzy lemon-limed bittering, leaving green pepper sweetness upon the back end.

Another spritzy dry-bodied moderation, Take Me Down Jimmy (a farmhouse ale named after an emphatic yelp from Paul Mc Cartney’s “Junior’s Farm”), crisply combined zesty lemon tartness with sour white grape esters and phenol hop astringency.

Next came three neatly disparate New England IPA’s.

Easygoing Vote For Pedro maintained a laidback Citra-Galaxy-Amarillo hop groove as tangy grapefruit, sweet orange peel and sour lemon juicing gained candied citric tartness, light wood tones and pale malt dryness.

Juicily tropical I Am The Walrus retained a dryly salted pineapple-passionfruit-guava sedation for its relegated floral pine setting.

Better still, tart Lemondrop-hopped refresher, Ask Forgiveness Not Permission, let zesty lemon peel bittering, subtle grapefruit-orange tang and herbal lemongrass minting receive piney resilience.

But the biggest cheers came for mildly acidic fruit juiced Walkabout Peach Raspberry Sour Ale, a terrific Sweet-Tart candied knockoff with Peach Melba and Raspberry Tart suppleness afforded salty mango, tangy orange and sweet red grape illusions atop dry pale malt rusticity.

fatorangecatbrewco.com

FOREST CITY BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

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MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

In the same random red brick Industrial complex as Stubborn Beauty, Middletown’s FOREST CITY BREWING began operations in springtime 2016. A white cement-walled, gray epoxy-floored nanobrewery with a large windowed frontage, Forest City’s raw warehouse space features a small serving station with silver brew tanks and beer list, five round barreled tables and one back-walled TV.

Crafting mostly one-off elixirs, entrepreneurial brewmaster Chris Coughlin developed a love for brewing during his tenure at Northeastern University. My wife and I try six fine offerings on our one-hour September ’19 stopover.

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Mild pale-yellowed Daybreak Pilsner linked light maize musk and dried oats to herbal-citric Saaz hop pleasantry.

Dewy autumnal foliage propelled Forest fest Oktoberfest Lager, leaving sweet amber-grained malt residue upon daintily spiced red, orange and yellow fruiting.

A lemony sour streak struck the subtle banana-clove sweetness of stylishly expansive Bavarian Breakfast Hefeweizen, a hybridized moderation given herbal ginger licks and earthen melon rind snips.

Arguably the best bet: resilient Galaxy-hopped Stargazer IPA attached tangy citrus spicing to dank wood, dewy moss, fennel and onion tones above sugary caramel malting.

Dry champagne-sparkled moderate-medium body, Champ Brut IPA, provided lightly vinous green grape esters and lemony grapefruit bittering to its relegated pale malting.

Fudgy chocolate sweetness contrasted leftover coffee souring for Brown Cow Chocolate Milk Stout, leaving dewy composted soil and maple molasses oats in its wake.

PATCHOGUE BEER PROJECT

United States Brewpubs,

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PATCHOGUE, NEW YORK

Just around the corner from Main Street’s established Brick House Brewery & Restaurant in Patchogue’s bustling nightlife community, PATCHOGUE BEER PROJECT opened up January 2019 (and closed 2022).

Brewer Ritchie Italiano and attentive assistant, Ryan Dispirito, create rangy flavor profiles for stylistically enhanced, well polished pub fare at this sparsely furnished small space.

The white subway-tiled siding of the L-shaped quartz topped serving station matches the backdrop scheme holding the twelve central-barred tap handles. Two TV’s sidle the bar and a colorful blackboard displays the current beer list. Its right side blue wall features a yellow-painted Patchogue Indian Chief insignia protecting the windowed brew tanks.

Interestingly, the serving station contains an active beer silo in its belly. And the rear mezzanine area stores a few active stainless silver brew tanks.

My wife and I settle in the midst of the 15-seat bar to consume nine fine brews while the front overhead door stays open for this sunny Saturday afternoon, August ’19.

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Soft-toned light body, Pipe Dream Golden Ale, let mild citrus spicing sit atop dainty pilsner malting, allowing spritzy lemon carbolics to tease its sweet orange peel briskness.

Sour lemon-wedged Copper Beech Kolsch brought grassy hopped herbage and soapy orange tartness to its white bread base.

Lemony banana-clove insistence guided Hugh Hefeweizen, a delectable éclair-headed moderation with vanilla-wafered Graham Cracker sweetness contrasting herbal restraint.

Tangy tangerine sweetness dominated Meandering Blonde Ale with Tangerine, a citrus-centric one-off with spritzy lemon briskness, mandarin orange subtleties and slight phenol hop astringency.

Hazy amber yellow-marbled EZ Swezey New England IPA placed tangy yellow grapefruit juicing just ahead of lemon rind bittering, melon rind earthiness, clementine sweetness and guava-mango-passionfruit tropicalia, picking up recessive pine tones in the wake.

Combining unheralded Waiti, Loral and Falconers Flight hops, Patrick Swhazy IPA eked out sugar-malted clementine, mandarin orange, tangerine and navel orange niceties.

Dewy English-styled IPA, Hop Tonic, brought mossy dried fruited honey malting to earthen gourd, fennel and tobacco illusions.

Dry black chocolatey dextrin malting and molasses oats inundated South Ocean Stout, a creamily silken dark ale with dark toffee, black licorice and tarry coal snips.

Totally delectable autumnal dessert, Pumpkin Patch-ogie, armored its rich brown-sugared pumpkin pie spicing with cinnamon-toasted wheat sweetness, leaving nutmeg-allspice and cardamom illusions all over the place.

patchoguebeerproject.com

HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY

Residing at the first floor of a tan brick split-level edifice on the Boulevard two blocks from the ocean in the vibrant beach town of Seaside Heights, HEAVY REEL BREWING COMPANY opened its doors springtime 2018. A simple 3-barrel nanobrewery in  the heart of the Jersey Shore, brewer Jeff Greco worked at Neptune City’s Little Dog with Jersey icon, Gretchen Schmidhausler, before venturing off on his own.

A li’l slice of heaven, the small floor-tiled pub contains eight silver-backed tap handles at the serving station, four small round tables, a railroad-tied left wall and some fishing photos.

Greco enjoys going just one small step beyond stylistic convention, giving each beer tried on this August ’19 journey a slightly heightened flavor profile. Heavy metal music plays as I imbibe six worthy brews.

First up, spritzy citrus-shined blonde ale, Undefinable Standards, let brisk lemon-limed Motueka hops and sugared orange spicing gently sail atop dry pale malts.

Soft-toned pinkish amber pleasantry, Follow The Iwa, a salty raspberry-induced Berliner Weisse, let sour lactobacillus acidity affect its tart raspberry luxuriousness, leaving mild green apple, cranberry and oaken cherry illusions on the tail end.

Easygoing ‘blended saison,’ Oblivion, brought tropical Mosaic-hopped lemon, orange and pineapple juicing to sugary malt spicing, briny barnyard graining and warm French breading.

Murkily hazed orange-yellowed New England IPA, Skin//Bones, provided lactic yogurt-milked grapefruit, passionfruit and gooseberry souring and sharp orange rind bittering, picking up puckered lime acidity and light green peppercorn herbage by the finish.

Utilizing chocolate, coconut and macadamia, sweet Imperial Porter, Staring Into Emptiness In My Eyelids will capture the attention of hearty dessert fanatics. Its toasted coconut alacrity rode above brown chocolate spicing, glazed macadamia sugaring and desolate blackberry notions.

Bringing dry oyster-shelled black chocolate to the fore, 34N 74W Barnegat Bay Oyster Stout retained black-malted molasses bittering to contrast less resilient milk-sugared rolled oats.

In July ’24, revisited Heavy Reel on a hazily sunny Friday afternoon following a sweltering beach swim to down six dandy suds.

Brisk lemony grapefruit zesting and grassy hop astringency dotted mild “hoppy” blonde ale, Midway Beach, leaving dry barnyard graining on its mineralized pilsner malt base.

Dewy Irish Red Ale, Lost & Rendered, placed cellared fungi must inside orange pekoe tea and nutty rye illusions over dry wheat-germed mineral graining.

Soft-toned yellow-hazed Imperial IPA, Zombie Clown, scattered lemon-soured yellow grapefruit bittering and tart guava salting alongside peachy pineapple, tangerine and tangelo tanginess atop dry pale malts.

Smoothie sour ale variant with creamy marshmallow-fluffed vanilla sugaring plied to navel orange pulp, Luvv: Orange Creamsicle, picked up pineapple-juiced bergamot marmalade tartness and lemon meringue piquancy.

Nitrogenated dry Irish stout, Good Rats, retained nutty dark-roast coffee overtones and subsidiary dark chocolate bittering.

Luxurious pastry stout, Straight Drizzle, draped caramel atop toasted coconut and bourbon chocolate richness, gaining luscious creme brulee, vanilla fudge cake, molasses cookie and black licorice licks.